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Understanding the Impact of the Elimination of the Individual Mandate Penalty

Starting in 2019, the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate penalty will be eliminated, effectively ending the law's requirement that most people have health insurance. Without a penalty, some people—particularly those who are younger or healthier—may drop coverage. The elimination of the mandate penalty has sparked a legal challenge regarding whether other features of the law, including rules that insurers cannot deny coverage or charge higher prices to those with preexisting conditions, remain constitutional. For now, such provisions continue to be enforced.…

Christine Eibner is the Paul O'Neill-Alcoa chair in policy analysis at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Sarah A. Nowak is a physical scientist at RAND and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

This commentary originally appeared on The Commonwealth Fund Blog on August 9, 2018. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.

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